


Memories and Mistakes

by BeccaBear93



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, KuroFai FANZINE, M/M, Minor Kurogane/Original Fay (Tsubasa), Mistaken Identity, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:08:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25042159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaBear93/pseuds/BeccaBear93
Summary: Kurogane and his family shelter Prince Fai of Valeria when his kingdom falls apart. Years later, they're reunited, but Fai isn't anything like Kurogane remembers...
Relationships: Fay D. Fluorite & Original Fay, Fay D. Fluorite/Kurogane, Kurogane & Original Fay (Tsubasa)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	Memories and Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> This was my entry for the [KuroFai Fanzine](https://kurofaifanzine.tumblr.com/), although this is an expanded version, because I'm terrible at word limits and had to cut it waayy down for the zine. I figured it's been long enough that anyone who wants to and can get a copy probably has by now, so I wanted to share it here. Hope you all enjoy! :)
> 
> (Side note: Tagging Tsubasa fics is the bane of my existence. How to tag the Fais and their relationships??? I never know XD)

The king of Valeria dies on the princes’ sixteenth birthday, and they are finally restored to their country and their rightful place on the thrones. The kingdom that had once hated them so much joyously celebrates their return after so many years under the mad tyrant’s rule. There are parades and feasts held in their honor, and they sit through it all graciously but quietly, hands linked together and distant smiles on their faces.

Kurogane only knows all of this because of the servants’ gossip he overhears as he patrols the grounds of Shirasaki Castle. He files the information away in the back of his mind, but he only _truly_ starts paying attention when Princess Tomoyo calls together her guards to make an announcement.

“Princes Fai and Yuui of Valeria will be making an official visit in a fortnight,” she says, and suddenly Kurogane can barely hear her over the blood rushing in his ears. “There have been no shortage of attempts on their lives over the years, so I expect you to protect them every bit as carefully as you would protect myself. I will keep most of you around when we are at public events, but here in the castle, I will leave their care primarily in Kurogane’s hands.”

“Princess…” Soma starts, but she knows better than to object to Tomoyo’s decisions.

Kurogane, on the other hand, has no such qualms. “Why should I—?!”

The princess cuts him off. “I am entrusting their safety to you, Kurogane,” she repeats, her tone brooking no argument. He glares at her and huffs out an irritated sigh, but says nothing further. Tomoyo shoots him a mischievous grin as they leave the room, and he can’t help but wonder just how much she knows.

* * *

To Kurogane’s surprise, the princes arrive with very few people. It’s only them, a single guard, and the woman who guides their carriage. The guard and driver are gone as soon as Fai and Yuui are safely within the castle walls. Princess Tomoyo welcomes them graciously, and all of the servants bow and curtsy deeply and give their regards before dispersing to take care of the last preparations for the princes’ stay. Kurogane remains standing by Tomoyo’s side and tries to ignore the whispers about how adorable the twins are.

Finally, a barebones gathering remains, only Princess Tomoyo, Amaterasu, and their most trusted guards. The members of royalty converse for a bit, the girls giving their congratulations to the boys and discussing details of their stay and the celebrations that have been planned. Fai and Yuui smile and nod along, giving their thanks and generally acting just as polite but distant as Kurogane has heard. When Tomoyo makes a ridiculous joke that earns her a sharp glare from her sister, though, he catches one of the boys stifling a giggle into his sleeve and throwing his brother a real grin.

His heart pounds, and when Tomoyo finally calls him forward to introduce the boys to their guard for the duration of their stay, he finds himself kneeling before the prince with the bright smile. He knows it probably wouldn’t be considered proper, but Kurogane lifts his hand to press a kiss to the back of it. Soma gasps behind him, and he prays that she can’t see the ridiculous grin he knows he’s failing to hide.

He looks up and finds the prince blinking down at him in surprise and… confusion? Then, after a long moment, he laughs and says quietly, “Red eyes… You must be the boy who protected my brother Fai when we were younger. I've heard a lot about you; he's very fond of you and your family. You should go speak to him."

Kurogane flushes and glances over at the other prince, who is watching them curiously. “I… I apologize, Prince Yuui,” he says, trying to ignore another stifled gasp from Soma and the giggling from Tomoyo. He can’t help but wonder how he mistook the boys; he was _so sure_ …

He stands back up, but is far too embarrassed now to repeat the ridiculous scene with Fai or follow his brother’s advice to talk to him. They have a fortnight, there will be plenty of time for that later. Instead, he takes a spot behind them and does his best to look like the angry but competent young guard that the others know him as. He glares at the wall and ignores the stares he can feel burning holes through his head, and when the princes leave a few minutes later, he follows.

“So, will you show us to our rooms, Kuro-o…gane?” Yuui asks, freezing and stumbling over the word. Kurogane looks at him with furrowed brows, but writes it off as trouble pronouncing a foreign name.

“Of course,” he answers, leading the way.

“I hope we don’t get lost,” Fai mutters as Kurogane leads them down a maze of hallways, but he just shakes his head.

“I’ll be by your sides for your whole stay, and I know every inch of this castle. I can help you get to wherever you need to go.”

The other boy stares at him for a minute before nodding. “Thank you, Kurogane-san.”

Kurogane tries to hide his flinch and responds only with a nod as they continue on. “Here we are,” he says after another minute, gesturing to two neighboring doors. He takes his post between them, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Both boys freeze before entering their rooms. Fai opens his mouth but takes one look at Yuui, who is simply staring at him intently, and closes it. After a few moments, he sighs. “Goodnight, Yuui. Goodnight, Kurogane-san.”

Kurogane grunts in acknowledgment and nods. Fai disappears into his room, and Yuui waits a minute more before shaking his head and taking his leave with a short, “’Night.”

* * *

The next morning, Kurogane leads them to the banquet hall for breakfast. He watches carefully as Fai eats and converses quietly with Tomoyo, while Yuui pokes at his fish and tries (badly) to hide his disgust. Then they head out to the gardens, where both princes seem to delight in the beauty of spring in Nihon.

“You’re smiling,” Soma says, smiling in amusement when he jumps slightly. “And getting distracted. I shouldn’t have been able to sneak up on you that easily.”

“What do you want, Soma?” he asks grumpily, trying not to let on how much it bothers him that she’s right.

“I’m here to take over for a bit. Princess Tomoyo would like to talk to you. She’s still in the banquet hall.” He gives her a suspicious look, but she just shrugs, so he sighs and leaves to find Tomoyo.

“Good morning, Kurogane,” she says when he enters the room. “How is it going so far with the princes?”

He stares at the princess for a long minute, but takes a seat nearby when she gestures at the chairs. When she doesn’t say or ask anything further, he sighs. “How much do you know?”

“Not much.” He glares at her and Tomoyo giggles. “You can believe it or not, but I only know what Ashura-ou has told me. I know that you met one of the princes when you were younger. I know that he was very excited when I mentioned you while we were planning their visit… and I know the look on your face when you heard his name,” she adds meaningfully, her teasing grin fading into a soft smile.

Kurogane looks down to the table and takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Sometimes it’s easy to forget just how intelligent and observant Tomoyo is because of how very _young_ she is. “When we were nine…” he starts, refusing to meet her eyes, “They had to go into hiding from their uncle. Ashura separated them, to keep them safe, supposedly. I guess he knew my parents enough to trust them, and he thought that Fai would be safer in a small, unknown place where nobody would think to look for him. So he left him with us. Fai stayed with us for… about a year, until the hunt for them died down a bit and Ashura had more security measures in place, and then he came back for him. I haven’t seen him since.”

He finally looks up and sees Tomoyo nodding, that same infuriatingly gentle smile still on her face. “I think I understand now…” she says, although he has the strange feeling that she isn’t referring to his explanation. “Has he mentioned anything about it?”

Kurogane shakes his head. “I don’t think either of us wanted to say anything after the fool I made of myself yesterday,” he says, even though just mentioning it leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

Tomoyo’s head tilts as she stares him down. Eventually, she says vaguely, “I wouldn’t be too quick to jump to conclusions if I were you, Kurogane.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you’ll figure it out on your own. Just give it some time.” Before he can object, she stands suddenly. “You can go back, now. Please send Soma back to me when you see her.” Kurogane rolls his eyes, but stands to follow her instructions. “Oh, and Kurogane?” she calls just as he closes the door. “I wish you the best of luck.”

* * *

Yuui isn’t nearly as good at sneaking as Soma, even though he’s trying very hard and she didn’t at all. “Have you talked to him yet?” he asks, standing over Kurogane’s shoulder where he sits in the shade of a large tree.

“No.”

“You should.”

“Why?”

“He’s missed you.”

Kurogane snorts doubtfully, watching as Fai talks to the group of women who descended upon him the moment they entered the courtyard. The prince has hardly glanced his way all day. “I’d be surprised if he even remembered me.”

There’s a long silence, and when he looks up, he finds Yuui gazing into space with a sad smile. When he notices Kurogane watching him, the smile brightens and becomes a bit more convincing. (Not convincing enough.) “You’d be surprised, then.”

* * *

Yuui seems determined to push them together, and Kurogane can’t help but miss Fai, so he finally takes his advice and approaches the other boy. Talking with Fai is nice enough, although their conversations are usually short-lived and a bit awkward.

Each day, they grow a bit closer, although Fai still keeps him at arm’s length. He’s polite and engaging. He’s a great listener in the rare times that Kurogane has much to say, but is comfortable with filling the silence or letting it hang when he doesn’t. He occasionally jokes around, but never teases. He’s friendly and talented and all the women in the court seem to swoon over him.

He’s nothing like the boy that Kurogane remembers.

(He’s nothing like the boy that was his first love, and Tomoyo’s sad smile every time she looks at them says that she realizes this and that she knows her plan failed. Yuui’s smile is _always_ sad, whether he’s looking at them or not. Kurogane tries not to notice.)

* * *

“You’re terrible at this, Kuro-rinta,” Yuui says, and pain shoots up Kurogane’s neck with how quickly he turns to look at him.

“…Terrible at what?” he asks cautiously.

“I don’t know. Making friends. Courting. I can’t even tell _what_ you’re trying to do at this point; that’s how terrible you are.”

Kurogane grunts in response and peers at him for a few more moments before turning away. The gears in his head turn.

* * *

This is disgusting.

It’s day seven of their stay, and Yuui has all but trapped them in the gardens together. Even mild-mannered Fai seems bothered by how obvious he’s been about it this time. Still, he handles it well, and simply asks Kurogane to accompany him on his walk.

Kurogane does, of course, because it’s his job, and because Fai is… maybe something like a friend. He leaves Yuui in the care of another guard that he trusts, because Yuui is a little shit and refuses to go with them, even for his own safety.

“I was right the first time, wasn’t I?” Kurogane asks, apropos of nothing, as Fai squats to try and lure out a rabbit from one of the bushes.

The other boy squints up at him. “Right about what?” he asks, standing up slowly and dusting his hands off on his pants.

“You’re not Fai, are you?”

A smile spreads over the prince’s face, the largest and most genuine he’s shown Kurogane in the time they’ve spent together. “I _am_ Fai…” he says slowly, carefully.

“But you’re not the Fai I met back then.”

Fai nods. After a moment, he chuckles. “But I didn’t tell you that, okay?”

“You didn’t. I figured it out myself.” Kurogane’s brows furrow. “Why did your brother pretend to be you, though?”

The other boy shrugs. “I’ve never been able to get him to tell me. I think he just wanted to feel close while we were separated, but that’s just my theory. Even I can’t get inside his head completely.”

After a long pause, Kurogane hesitantly asks, “Do you know why he’s lying about it now?”

Fai shrugs again. “I don’t know for sure, but… maybe he just wanted to see if you knew him well enough to see past the lies.”

“I haven’t seen him in years, how could I have--?!” Kurogane starts indignantly, but Fai cuts him off with a bright laugh.

“But you did it anyways, didn’t you?”

“That—” He growls, then takes a deep breath and lets it out on a sigh. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” the prince asks, like he already knows.

“To sort out this mess.”

Fai follows Kurogane obediently back through the gardens, where he then trades out the twins, much to the confusion of the other guard.

“What are you doing?” Yuui asks with a glare as Kurogane practically drags him across the grounds.

He stops near the pond and drops Yuui’s arm, silently counting to ten before he turns to face him. “Can we just… stop with the lies?”

“What are you talking—”

“Drop the act.” Yuui just keeps staring at him with a petulant pout, and eventually it becomes obvious that he’s not going to give anything away. Kurogane sighs again. “I know you’re Fai. I mean…” He shakes his head. “I know you were _going_ by Fai, back then.”

Yuui gives him a long, searching look, then falls to the grass. He nods, and Kurogane sits down next to him. “What gave it away?” he asks, looking out over the water.

“Everything.” The prince waits in silence, and after a few minutes Kurogane admits, “But I really started to catch on when you called me by that stupid nickname.”

Yuui’s head tilts, and he looks genuinely confused. “What nickname?”

“Kuro-rinta,” he answers with a roll of his eyes.

“I… didn’t realize I’d slipped up,” Yuui says with a quiet laugh.

“You were right, you know. I was trying to court, well… _you_ , actually. I am terrible at it though, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you are,” he answers, smirking.

“Can we start over?”

Yuui glances over with another one of those sad smiles. “We only have a week, Kuro-pii. That would only make it worse when we leave.”

“We only have a week this time,” he corrects. “There will always be some reason or another for the rulers of neighboring kingdoms to visit. And I’m sure Tomoyo would be _more_ than happy to send me off to Valeria for a while.”

Yuui watches him for a long minute before asking, “…Are you sure?”

Kurogane nods. He says nothing for fear of scaring Yuui away; in this moment, he looks like the skittish rabbit that Fai had been trying to coax out of the bushes.

“…Okay,” he says with a resolute nod. He slides a bit closer, one hand coming to rest over Kurogane’s. “We can try.” After another short pause, Yuui adds, “There is one thing I didn’t lie about, you know.”

“What’s that?” Kurogane asked, flipping his hand over to interlock their fingers.

“I really did miss you.”

“I missed you, too.”


End file.
